Clothes-line fastener



(No Model.)

N. J. BOUDREAU. CLOTHES LINE FASTENBR.

No. 566,293. Patented Aug. 25, 1896.

UNITED STAT S PATENT OFFICE.

NAPOLEON J. BOUDREAU, OF EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS.

CLOTH ES-LINE FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 566,293, dated August 25, 1896.

Application filed March 11,1896. fierial N 582,743. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LNAPOLEON J. BOUDREAU, a citizen of the United States, residing at East St. Louis, in the county of St. Clair and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Line Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to devices whereby a rope, such as a clothes-line, which has been drawn taut may be held in that condition; and for that purpose it consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of which it is composed, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by similar marks of reference, Figure 1 is an elevation of my invention, the guard-shoulder being partly broken away for the purpose of better illustration. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

A suitable plate 1, having screw-holes 2, by which it may be secured to any desired support, has formed upon its forward face, running in a general direction from its upper front corner to its lower rear corner, an areshaped shoulder 3, which is of a width dependent upon the diameter of the rope which it is desired to engage, the said shoulder hav ing a guard shoulder or flange 4 along the outer or forward edge thereof, the said shoulder or flange projecting inwardly toward the center from which the arc-shaped shoulder 3 is described.

In order to reduce friction attendant upon the stretching of the rope, the rear and lower portion of the shoulder 3 is undercut, forming a chamber 5, in which is mounted the grooved roller 6 on a pintle 7, extendin g through the said chamber and having its opposite ends taking into the plate 1 and overhung portion of the shoulder 3. By this construction the rope led over the shoulder may be pulled taut by a downward pull without excessive friction, while at the same time it will lie immediately above the arc-shoulder 3 and in a position to be clamped by the hereinafter-described eccentric.

From the center from which the shoulder 3 is described arises a boss 8, having projecting from the top thereof a stud 9. Upon this boss is mounted the eccentric or cam 11, pro vided with a bearing 12, into which the boss projects, and, as will be seen from the draw ings, the distance from the upper end of the curved face of the eccentric to the center of the bearing is less than the distance from the lower end of its curved face to the said center, whereby the eccentric will, when engaged by the friction of the rope and move therewith, bind the rope between its curved face and shoulder 3. The eccentric has a projection 13 upon its forward face whereby it may be engaged to be moved to release the rope.

The eccentric 11 is held upon the boss 8 by lock-pin 14, which passes through the stud 9, and on the said stud between the said pin 14 and the outer pin 15 are contained the spirals of the spring 16, one end of the said spring bearing upon a lug 17 upon the plate 1 and the opposite end against the lug 18, projecting from the outer face of the eccentric 11, whereby, when the eccentric is released, it will be thrown against the rope to be engaged thereby and to engage it in the manner before described.

In order to relieve the boss 8 of a heavy strain coming thereon through the eccentric, the latter has its portion around the rear of the bearing struck in a circular form from the center thereof and bearing on an arc-shaped block 19 upon the plate.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is In a clothes-line fastener, the combination, with a plate having an arc-shaped shoulder thereon with a guard-flange, the lower end of the shoulder being recessed, a roller mounted in the recess thus formed, a boss upon the plate, and located at the center of curvature of the shoulder and having a stud thereon an eccentric pivoted upon the said boss, a spring coiled upon the stud and bearing upon the said eccentric, an arc-shaped block mounted on the plate behind the stud, forming a bearing to the eccentric, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NAPOLEON J BOUDREAU.

Witnesses:

JNO. M. GILLIGAN, Jos. J. ENRIGHT. 

